


The Blame Game

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-12-14 18:35:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11789040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Zelda decides that it would be best for Justin if they broke up. Zelda belongs to ZDusk.





	The Blame Game

Zelda knew, deep down, that she was being stupid. But she couldn’t help feeling this way. She’d rescued Justin from prison twice, yes, but… both times, it had been her fault that he’d ended up there. Most recently, she had delivered him directly into the hands of his jailors.

She’d done so much wrong. But now, as she sat on Phantom’s back on the Eastern Slopes way out in Epona, Zelda knew that she was about to do something right for once.

Justin appeared, his black hair finally looking good again. Because he was good. He was so good. Much too good for her. Zelda sighed, shifting Phantom’s reins in her hands.

“Hey!” said Justin, brightening at the sight of her. He was on Maxy again now, having gone and collected him on the way home after being rescued from the druid prison.

“Hey…” said Zelda, unable to meet his gaze. Her eyes, instead, went to Phantom’s glossy black mane.

“What’s wrong?” asked Justin, riding close to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. Zelda shrugged him off, and Phantom stepped away.

“I think we should take a break,” said Zelda, her heart breaking as she said the words. Tears spilled down her cheeks as her lower lip trembled.

“What? Why?” asked Justin, following her on Maxy as Phantom walked towards the shore. Zelda dismounted Phantom and sat down on the sand, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them.

“Because it’s my fault,” said Zelda, trying to keep her voice even. It was very hard, though, especially with Justin dismounting to sit next to her. This was so familiar, when she’d comforted him after he’d come back from Dark Core and he’d come to sit on the beach every night. That had been her fault too.

Justin wrapped his arm around her, and Zelda had to fight the natural inclination to snuggle into him and just let him hold her. Instead, she pulled away from him and stood up again.

“No, Justin, can’t you see I’m not good for you?” asked Zelda, blinking back tears at the sight of him standing there looking so confused.

“What do you mean?” asked Justin. “Did Jack say something to you?”

“No!” said Zelda, clenching her hands into fists. “This was my decision. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and your life was so much simpler before I came along and ruined it all.”

“Sabine did gloat about how you made things easier for her,” said Justin, then cursed himself for saying that as Zelda walked a little farther down the beach.

“I’m just the fool who blindly trusted an evil girl,” said Zelda as Justin caught up to her again and took her hand.

“You’re not,” said Justin. “I trusted her too, so if you’re stupid, I’m even more stupid.”

“You’re not stupid,” said Zelda. “You’re just unlucky. I should’ve never given you that letter.”

“But it wasn’t all bad,” said Justin. “Now I know that he can’t be trusted. My dad tried to keep us away from any magical trouble, so I was easy pickings.”

“He was trying to protect you,” said Zelda.

“And you were trying to help me,” said Justin. “You just wanted to reunite me with both grandparents. That’s a noble goal.”

“But it’s more than that,” said Zelda. “I should’ve known that Fripp couldn’t be trusted.”

“How could you know?” asked Justin. “He’s the leader, and you didn’t know that he’d throw me in prison as soon as I got back. None of this is your fault, Z.”

“Yes it is,” said Zelda, looking at him with tears in her eyes. “I told your dad you’d be fine. Do you know how it felt, coming back empty-handed and telling him that you’d been imprisoned again? After he just got you back? And Loretta was a total bitch about it but I know that she was hurting too.”

“I don’t blame you for any of that,” said Justin. “You know that, Z.” He took her hands, but Zelda tugged her hands away and tucked them into her armpits, walking away with her head down as though she was walking into rain or snow. But the night was clear.

“You should,” said Zelda. “If I hadn’t come along, you would’ve lived your whole life not knowing any of this.”

“It’s better to be hurt than to be sheltered,” said Justin. “Yes, I did nearly get killed, and then I was in a bad place when I got back, but at least now I know where I came from. What if I do develop magical powers in the future? At least I’ll know where they came from. And I know what to look out for now.”

“In a bad place?” Zelda echoed, turning around to face him. “You wanted to leave, and that’s my fault. Even you could see that I’m bad for you.”

“You didn’t force me to go live with my grandfather,” said Justin. “You didn’t force me to do anything. I did that myself. I knew as little as you did. And, in the end, you convinced me to stay. And I can see now that leaving would’ve just hurt everyone, it would’ve been selfish.”

“But I keep hurting you,” said Zelda. “And hurting your dad, and everyone else who loves you. You’d have been better off if you’d never met me.”

“No I wouldn’t,” said Justin. “Because then I wouldn’t have met the love of my life.” He stepped closer to her, and this time, Zelda didn’t pull away. She felt frozen. But when Justin wrapped his arms around her, she thawed and broke down in tears. She’d been so deep in self-loathing that she hadn’t given herself time to properly celebrate the fact that Justin was back. But now here he was, real, standing in front of her with his arms wrapped around her.

“I’m sorry,” Zelda whispered, sniffling as tears dripped onto his leather jacket. Justin hushed her like she was a baby, but Zelda didn’t mind.

“It’s okay,” said Justin gently, stroking her hair. “And it’s not your fault, so stop saying that.”

“Yes it is,” Zelda whispered.

“Shh, no it’s not,” said Justin, kissing the side of her head.

“You’ve gotta stop listening to me,” said Zelda. “I make the worst decisions.”

“I think we’ve both made some pretty awful decisions,” said Justin. “But we made one right one.”

“And what’s that?” asked Zelda, pulling away slightly so that she’d stop messing his jacket up with snot and tears.

“Deciding to be together,” said Justin, pushing her short black hair behind her ear. Zelda gave a teary laugh, and then Justin kissed her. 

Now, choosing to break up had been a pretty stupid decision too. Even if part of Zelda still thought that it would be better for Justin if he did leave her.


End file.
